Rust on blade.

Hello.

I decided to start Straight Razor shaving three years ago or so. Everything went well and tidy but year ago or so I decided that I shall for the first time, grow a full beard. So I mothballed my Straight Razor. I put it in to a airtight pack with some white rice to absorb moisture, and set it aside to wait for when I need it again. Today I decided to shave off my beard, so I went and dug out my old straight razor and this is how I found it:

http://i68.tinypic.com/a4veb9.jpg
http://i66.tinypic.com/20r8kzq.jpg

I have no clue how is it even possible that the blade rusted, as I put it in to the pack dry. I even used hairdryer on it before I mothballed it.
Is there anything I can do to restore the blade? Or is it complete goner?

That is horrible man! I feel your pain. Uhm... it's the pitting closest to the edge that has me scared to death. It looks deeply pitted. Sheesh, see what happens when you take some sandpaper to it. Hopefullly that is only surface rust that comes off easily, it just doesn't look like it though.... That really sucks! Nice razor too...
I always tell people to dry then oil their blade regardless.

You didn't let the actual rice touch the blade did you?

I didn't oil my blade because I thought there is no way in hell any moisture would get in to my airtight pack.. And I thought rice was enough to stabilize the humidity within the pack. I should had thrown bag of calcium chloride in to that airtight bag, that would had removed all the humidity within the pack.. Oh well it's easy to be smart afterwards.

The rust doesn't feel that deep, when I run my nail against it so maybe there is some hope. Should I try to hand stand it with different grit papers, or would abrasive pastes and some buffing be better option?

No. The blade was wrapped in paper.

I would go to a light hand sanding with 2k W/D to see where I'm really at with the corrosion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aerdvaark

I would go to a light hand sanding with 2k W/D to see where I'm really at with the corrosion.

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I second this.
Or if you have some 000 or 0000 synthetic steal wool, give it a try. You will knock off the big stuff and see whats left. Hope you dont find deep pitting. Good luck. And, If you use the W/D sand paper, put a touch of dish soap on it along with the water.

Probably the airtight bag that caused the damage. Any moisture in there was trapped. Edge doesn't look too good, maybe send it out for a pro hone first to see if it can be saved. Other than that, should clean up ok.

Looks to my eyes like the rust didn't go deep, so a clean-up and a good honing should get her back into working order. Fingers crossed for you here, buddy. :gl:

It may take some time hand sanding the rust away, but it will come back to normal. Then you have to spend even more time buffing it back up to your polish desires.

I'm just hoping that after 3 years the rust didn't go through the edge.:gl:

Doesn't look that bad. I've cleaned up worse in 15 minutes with a cordless dremel on the low setting, a 320 grit purple pad (they're not actually 320 grit but they eat away patina and rust pretty good), and a cotton buffing wheel with chrome ox paste. Shouldn't be too awful to clean up with a little sandpaper. I'd probably start somewhere between 600 grit and 2K, see what it takes to clean up some depending on what method you want to take and how polished you want it.

Honing past the rust at the edge is going to be the hard/time consuming part I would think. Might take a bit of time to get to good steel.

I think the air tight bag is the issue. The rice was a good idea but if it can't breath you will almost inevitably get condensation.

That's rough, you think that you are doing everything right and this is what happens. Oil is always a good idea for long term storage as others have said.

I truly hope that this is not too bad and that you can get it looking pristine again. I'm sure you will, some people get fantastic results from century old razors that haven't been stored properly.

Good luck with this.

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Originally Posted by Ymir

No. The blade was wrapped in paper.

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What type of paper did you use to wrap your blade?

Razors should only be wrapped in a treated paper that prevents moisture from absorbing into the paper. That includes wax paper, butchers wrap, or silicone treated paper.

Untreated papers will contain somewhere between 5-10% moisture content depending upon the type of paper and the relative humidity level to which the paper has exposed. That is why it is important to oil any blade that is to be stored. Some papers may also contain chemicals (salts or acids) that could prove corrosive to your blade. Most papers today are alkaline sized rather than acid-rosin sized, but some have electrolytes (salts) added so they will work with xerographic copiers and laser printers.